Velvia in deserts at mid day

[roberto_lins]

Hi all,

I don't have much experience shooting in deserts. I've been reading

all the discussions posted here what I found very useful. However, I

still have a question. I'll be most likely using Velvia pushed to 40.

In case I'm shooting at mid day (deserts) and use the f/16 rule,

should I set the exposure for 1/30 or 1/60? It might save me some

bracketing... Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[robert_fisher]

Roberto, if you shoot Velvia at 40, you won't be pushing or pulling it. It is actually a 40 speed film.

[roberto_lins]

Okay... I should have said pulled instead of pushed. Anyway,

*theoretically* speaking it's ISO 50. But my question resides

in tips about exposure, wheather Velvia or any other suggestion,

in a desert at mid day. Thanks.

[ShunCheung]

Right, a lot of people consider Velvia an ISO 40 film. Therefore, using the "Sunny 16" rule, you should be shooting at 1/40sec at f16. However, Velvia is also a high-contrast film. Obviously it depends on the situation, but usually Velvia wouldn't be my film choice at mid day, especially in a desert (assuming that it is under bright, sunny, and high-contrast conditions).

[kevinoneil]

"Obviously it depends on the situation, but usually Velvia wouldn't be my film choice at mid day, especially in a desert (assuming that it is under bright, sunny, and high-contrast conditions)."

 

If you don't mind, I'll finish the quote by stating the obvious, there isn't any film I'd recommend in that situation since the light/contrast will be terrible. And even if I could, Velvia would be one of the last due to its inherent contrast.

 

Any reason you can't shoot at more appropriate hours for good light, like pre-dawn/early morning and late afternoon?

[roberto_lins]

Kevin, I can shoot early mornings/late afternoon, and actually I'll.

However, the question is in case I find mylself in a spot or want to shoot at a subject in the middle of the day knowing that I won't get

a chance to came back later to that point. It'd be a one week trip.

In this situation, would you (or anyone else) have any other film recommendation? Thanks again.

[lester_laforce]

It seems to me a landscape with muted colors (like the desert) would be complemented by a saturated film (that would be Velvia or E100Vs). If you want something less contrasty, there is Astia (also less saturated).

[knut_sverre_horn]

Velvia is a very saturated high-contrast film. You can use it in any sort of light, provided you want to exaggerate the contrasts you find in a scene. So if the shadows and light in the sand dunes is of any photographic interest to you, Velvia may be great. If you want details both in the highlights and the shadows, Velvia will be terrible! terrible! terrible! My suggestion: Try some rolls of Velvia and some rolls of a film with lower contrast (Astia or E100SV, depending on the desired colour saturation), and come back later on the net to tell us what worked.

[stanley_mcmanus]

I can't speak for Roberto, but I do know that many of us travel about with others who are not photographers and we can't expect them to alter their plans so we can catch the "magic light". If caught in high contrast mid-day light I would do one of two things, either switch to a lower contrast chrome film like Sensia II or Astia, OR, pick a lower contrast negative film like REALA. Even though negative films are scoffed at by some, the soon to arrive GDR (Glorious Digital Revolution) will make film type a mute point. We either won't use film, or we will scan all our film before using to digital printing techniques.

 

Another alternative is to get some black and white, an orange, yellow and red filter, and let that contrast work for you in very artistic ways.

[kurt_heintzelman]

Why not try some Provia 100F?

[john_wall1]

If you're shooting closeups (not necessarily macro) of desert plants, you can use an easily carried diffusing umbrella to shade the subject, and mid-day will present no lighting problems. If you do this, be sure to run a test roll or two with your umbrella at home so you can see what exposure compensation you might need, and whether you'll want a warming filter (using E6 film).

[jim_everett]

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[frank_kolwicz]

Roberto,

 

If you are working fairly close (not distant scenics), you may not have as much of a problem as you think. The deserts I am familiar with, here in the US, have a lot of very light-colored soils and rocks. Under those conditions the soil/rock can reflect a lot of light into shadows. If you pick your setting well, you may find that shadows won't be as deep black as usual. Also, some desert plants tend to be rather open and spindly, in many cases, and don't create dense shade, so that may help, too.

 

The pale colors often respond well to a saturated film like Velvia which helps bring out whatever color is there (or invents colors that were never there!).

 

1/30 is closer to the actual Velvia speed than 1/60 is and is in the right direction to avoid any underexposure which Velvia doesn't tolerate well, that's what I would use for average scenes. If the subjects are very bright and light colored, I might underexpose and shoot at 1/60 to avoid burning out the light areas. In any event, the "sunny 16 rule" does not ALWAYS work (especially with transparency film), it needs correction for very light and very dark subjects. TTL metering with corrections you apply for each situation can be a lot better way to make exposures, generally, but that takes experience and knowledge on the part of the photographer and apparently you are not comfortable with that.

 

Frank

[dan_smith]

What desert are you shooting in? What weather or season? What elevations & what kind of atmospheric haze?

Deserts are a lot more than a barren wasteland and they vary a lot from place to place. Snow & ice are problems in some while heat & sand are problems in others.

There isn't any film right for all circumstances, but I think your Velvia will work well as long as you can expose it properly.

[franki_wango]

Deserts at mid day (10:00 am - 2:00 pm) are really low contrast situations. The lighting is flat with only very small shadows. The light reflects from surrounding highly reflective rock and sand surfaces and generally fills most of the shadows. The only time you will find high contrast situations at mid day is if you are in slot canyon country of Southern Utah. Even the mesa and canyon areas of north western New Mexico, and the high plateau areas of northern Arizona are low contrast at mid day. The Grand Canyon is extremely low contrast and one dimensional at mid day. The Sonoran and Mojave deserts are equally low contrast at mid day.

 

High contrast occurs early morning and late in the day. That's when you get deep large shadows and brightly lit highlights. I've photographed every desert area starting from the Mexican border, and north to the Canadian border; and from the Pacific Ocean on the west, to Nebraska and the Dakotas on the east during the past 25 years and have never found high contrast at mid day. Perhaps I've just missed something?

[cliff_kolber]

I was shooting at the Great Sand Dunes Natl Park a couple months ago with Art Wolfe. He and I were both using Velvia and it worked perfectly. Great saturation. 40 or 50, that's a personal preference.

[pronskephoto]

I recently did some exposure tests with Velvia. My best exposure was using this as an ISO 40 film. Sunny 16 came out the best for me at 1/45sec @f/16. I looked at some slides from 6-8 years ago when I didn't know as much about exposure (and I am not claiming that I am a genious about this now) and I shot everything at ISO 50 (my camera would read "Sunny 16" 1/60 sec @f/16) and my general impression is that these were a tad under exposed, confirming the "Sunny 16" of 1/45 sec @f/16. I hope this helps and do your own tests to confirm what you like. A lot of this is a matter of taste because we are talking merely of a +/- 1/2 to 1/3 stop difference.

[keithneun]

Velvia rated at ISO 40 is not a rule, but matter of taste. Your meter may vary. If you want a fraction of a stop overexposure, make sure that setting the ISO to 40 on your body actually accomplishes that.

 

For any high-contrast film that has fairly unforgiving exposure lattitude you need to be most concerned with managing the contrast of your subject. Tents, sheets, or umbrellas for closeups was mentioned above and is a good idea. Graduated neurtal density filters can be useful for landscapes where high and low contrast areas are evenly split.

 

In the end, sometimes you're better off just enjoying the scene if you don't have the right tools to make a photograph.